Justice (Deck of Lies, #1)

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The Tower (Deck of Lies, #2)

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Death (Deck of Lies, #3)

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Judgment (Deck of Lies, #4)

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Hope's Rebellion

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War and Battle in the Sea

"Jade Varden’s imaginative and creative description of the underwater living world is to be praised, especially for her unique War and Battle in the ocean approach opposing most of the fairytale stories about mermaids and their lands."
"Song of the Sea" has been expertly photographed and reviewed at Bookidote. Visit the site to read the whole review!

Get your print copy of "Song of the Sea" at Amazon.

Writing 101: The Non-Character Narrator

First-person narratives directly connect the main character of a book with the audience. I am telling you these things, I am relating my story to you as the first-person narrator. But sometimes, the narrator will talk to you, as a reader, even when they aren't a character in the story itself. It can get a little tricky to pull this off, but it can be an effective tool for certain types of stories.


The Way I Heard It...

In a first-person narrative, the main character is directly relating events that happened (or are happening) to them. But you can also directly address the reader using a narrator who isn't even in the story. These narrators are relaying events that they know about, but didn't experience. And yes, it can be pretty hard to write. But there are reasons why you might want to try it.

Writing 101: Author Reviews

It can be really hard to get reviews for a book, and self-published authors are the type of people who take things into their own hands. That’s why some authors go ahead and take the next step on their own, and write author reviews of their own books. Should you...or shouldn’t you? 


Your Own Drum

Many self-published authors also review books. I’ve done it before, myself. It’s a good way to get more exposure for indie authors of all kinds, and it’s something to blog about. So what’s to stop an indie author, any kind of author, from reviewing their own book? There are reasons why you shouldn’t, clearly...but there is a way you can do it with a touch of class, too.

The Art of Being Stubborn

Unless you're one of them, it's hard to know what the life of a really big-time author is like. Imagine having 20 bestsellers on your bookshelf and tons of fans tweeting you all day long. Now imagine that you've got all that...and you still can't really write what you want. One famous author had to keep trying, for 20 years, to create the one project he felt passionate about. His name was Michael Crichton, and his project was a little TV series called "ER." This author knew the art of being stubborn.


He Knew He Could

You know Michael Crichton. He's the guy who wrote "Jurassic Park," "Congo," "The Andromeda Strain" and like several other books that were made into bigtime feature films. But he's also the guy that's ultimately behind "ER," a project that he tried to get going for about 20 years.

Get Jade's New Book

Death and the Deep is finally here! 



Use the links above to get your own copy of Death and the Deep.

Writing 101 Redux: Learning to Research

If you've going to write a book, you're going to have to learn how to research. Read today's Throwback Thursday tip, and learn all my research tricks.


Learning to research is something all authors have to do...but maybe this Writing 101 tip will help you figure it out a little more quickly.

Writing 101: Creating Lore

One of the most difficult things for any author to do is create lore, and no I’m not talking about Data’s evil brother (Star Trek shoutout). When you introduce fantasy creatures and certain other elements into your story, there are some questions you’re going to have to answer -- preferably, before you even begin writing the story.


Your Own Private Mythology

Lore is one of those things that’s always evolving. J.K. Rowling included mermaids in her books, Stephenie Meyer found something brand-new to add to vampires and authors everywhere are inventing their own lore right this very moment. If you’re also going to invent your lore, there are some things to keep in mind when you’re doing it.

Writing 101: The Unseen Character

Most characters in your book exist somewhere in the world you’ve created. They interact with other characters, they move things around, they’re in the pages. But you can create another type of character who lives somewhere off the page: the unseen character. Though you don’t lay eyes upon them, they can be very effective in all sorts of different ways.


The Invisible

The unseen character always does things in the background, behind the scenes, and your readers only find out about them third hand. This can be incredibly useful and help you, as a writer, get all sorts of things done. How can you use an unseen character? A few options immediately come to mind.


The One Who Failed at Self-Publishing

Even if you haven't read "Walden Pond," you've probably heard of Henry David Thoreau. He's well-known for going out into nature and writing about it, doing firsthand research to create his very famous book. What you may not know is that he self-published a book, and didn't do well with it at all.


Unsuccessful at Self-Publishing

Henry David Thoreau published two full-length books, but no one much cared. Neither book sold well, and that includes "Walden Pond," even though Thoreau gained some notoriety as an essayist. His sales were so bad, in fact, that he had to self-published his third novel himself.

Get Death and the Deep September 30

Saltwater Secrets, Book 2: Death and the Deep will be available for purchase September 30! You’ll find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and Kobo.


Death and the Deep

I came back to the land because I thought it would be safe. I didn’t know the waves would keep calling me, even weeks after I decided to leave them for ever.

That’s the problem with the ocean. The things we leave behind in the waves have a way of washing back up to the shore. Everything I left in the water is still out there…and I can hear it calling for me, no matter how hard I try to block the sound of the waves.

There is death waiting for me in the deep. Even when I try my best to stay on the land, the ocean won’t stop trying to claim me as one of its own. I’m afraid that soon, it’s going to succeed.


Writing 101 Redux: Writing with Bad Habits

You may be guilty of bad writing habits and not even know it...so how can you fix it? 


Read today's Throwback Thursday Writing 101 tip, and see if you've been writing with bad habits.

Writing 101: Trusting Yourself

I've been using the same beta reader for awhile now, but lately my reader hasn't been available for my newest book. I stopped freaking out about that around the same time I learned a valuable lesson about writing. Beta readers and reviewers are great, but as an author you should always be trusting yourself...and so should I.


The Issue of Trust

It's good to have beta readers, to get a second opinion, to check your work against someone else so you know you're on the right track. But you can't always rely on these things. The actor writing a novel is always a risk. It's a leap. You're putting something out there that's personal to you, and the world may rip it to shreds. You'll get a little less bloody if a beta reader rips into you first. But you don't always get that option. That's why you always have to make sure you're trusting yourself...and your book.

Writing 101: Always Be a Critic

I haven’t made a lot of time for reading lately, something people are always surprised to find out about me when they also know that I’m a writer. But no matter how much I don’t read, I’m exposed to storytelling every single day -- both good and bad. And I’m a huge critic of all the stories I come into contact with. This is a post about why you should be like me, too.


Picking it Apart

Storytelling is everywhere, from movies to TV shows to songs to commercials. You’ll see short stories, long stories, dramatic stories -- every kind of story is available at all times, and you can probably get to it from your cell phone. And when you encounter any story, you should be criticizing it. This will help you to become a better storyteller. Seriously, it will. I’m not saying that because I like being judgmental.

It’s Okay to Be Unfaithful...to Your Genre

Some authors become so famous for writing books in a certain genre, they get stuck in it. You’ll always think of Stephen King as a horror author, and we all know that Agatha Christie was the Queen of mystery. But it’s okay to be unfaithful to your genre. Shel Silverstein, one of the most famous kids’ authors of all time, was completely unfaithful -- wickedly so.


At some point, someone probably read to you from Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree," one of the most well-known children's stories of all time. His poems and drawings have delighted generations of children. But Shel Silverstein had another job you probably didn't know about: Playboy.

Guest Post Excerpt: The Secrets of Yashire

 Today, Jade's blog has been taken over by author Diamante Lavendar. Read an excerpt from her new book "The Secrets of Yashire: Emerging from the Shadows."

 The Secrets of Yashire: Emerging from the Shadows


Opening her eyes, Brianna gazed into a clear blue sky illuminated by warm, hazy rays of sunlight. She slowly turned her head to look around. She was lying on a carpet of soft, green grass. All around her she heard the sweet, cheerful songs of birds as a playful breeze rumpled her long black hair. Where am I? She tried to raise her head but a hot, sharp pain shot through it.

Ow! I have one heck of a headache!

Gently, she lay her head back down. As she stretched into a more comfortable position, she noticed the clothes she was wearing; a white, ruffled blouse and a long, purple skirt. She was vaguely confused but couldn’t figure out why. Suddenly a strong urge to sleep overcame her.

Closing her eyes, she listened to the birds and felt the warm sun soaking into her skin. The soft breeze caressed her cheeks and pressed the tendrils of her hair against her forehead. Gently, she was lulled back to sleep.

Brianna was awakened by a swishing sound nearby.

What was that?


Song of the Sea: Map Brenna’s Journey

Want to follow Brenna as she searches for her mother in “Song of the Sea,” Book 1 of the Saltwater Secrets trilogy? You can use my own map.


For the very first time, I’m releasing one of the maps I actually used to map out my book. You can see every step of Brenna’s adventure across the water and the land, exactly the way I mapped it myself! Follow along with Brenna while you read “Song of the Sea.” Book 2 in the Saltwater Secrets trilogy is coming out later this month!

Writing 101 Redux: It's Not Easy to Know Your Its

Sure, you know how to use apostrophes. But the rules change when it comes to its and it's. You know, it's really easy to get your its mixed up. 


Learn how to tell them apart with today's Throwback Writing 101 tip, and become a master of using it's and its.

Writing 101: The Love Interest

I’ve written about a lot of different types of characters at this blog. The main character, the flawed character, the three-dimensional character, the villain, good guys and bad guys. But there’s a type of character you’ll find in a majority of stories that I haven’t covered: the love interest. Do you know how to make yours interesting?


What’s Love Got to Do With It?

All of the greatest authors through the pages of history have written of love. You can even find love stories in the Bible, the best-selling book ever written. People expect to find it in stories, even stories that aren’t in the romance genre, and that means every author has to struggle with the same problem. How do you make a love interest interesting to the reader?

Writing 101: Lying to the Readers

Whether you call it stretching the truth or creative promotion, lying to the readers isn’t a good idea -- even if it’s all done in the name of embellishment. Find out why it’ll never work to fudge on your credentials, make more out of your achievements or just downright fib about your books.

 
There Are No White Lies


Sure, it sounds more impressive to say that your book is a bestseller, or that you have a degree in this or that, or maybe that you have all five-star reviews. But if those things aren’t really, really true, it’s better not to say them at all. Even if you’re just fudging a little or exaggerating a lot, there’s one thing you can never lie to get: credibility. You don’t want to lose that, trust me.